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At the City of Ypsilanti's request, a billboard along I-94 that aimed to flush out the person who has been soiling playground slides has been taken down. / Adams Outdoor Advertising

At the City of Ypsilanti's request, a billboard along I-94 that aimed to flush out the person who has been soiling playground slides has been taken down. / Adams Outdoor Advertising

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The search for the poopetrator may soon be over, perhaps thanks to the power of social networking.

At the City of Ypsilanti’s request, a billboard along I-94 that aimed to flush out the person who has been soiling playground slides has been taken down, according to the advertising company’s general manager. The request came after Ypsilanti police said today they have a possible person of interest in the case.

Adams Outdoor Advertising had displayed three eye-catching messages on an electronic billboard near Exit 183 in Ypsilanti. The messages rotated among: “Do your civic doody. Report the pooper,” “Help us catch the poopetrator,” and “Help us flush the pooper.”

They feature a Clark Kent-style superhero in a brown shirt with an appropriate symbol.

“We’ve been told by the City of Ypsilanti and the police force that they do have a person of interest and we agreed to take it down,” said Todd McWilliams, general manager. “By no means do we say we helped catch this guy, but we did bring attention to it.”

McWilliams said the sign was up for less than three days and was taken down this afternoon.

The signs included the hashtag #ypsipooper. McWilliams said what started as a “tongue in cheek” effort quickly blew up on social media, resulting in hundreds of retweets and shares on various websites within the past day.

“I didn’t expect it to get this much publicity,” he said. “One of my employees lives in Ypsilanti and she was telling us the story. We wanted to lend a hand to try and help find the person and get them to stop doing it. It was tongue in cheek.”

Prospect Park sits near a school and features a basketball court, a tennis court being used as a skateboarding venue as well as a picnic area. A security camera was placed to try to catch the offender.

The Ypsilanti Police Department released a statement earlier today, saying investigators will continue to look into “the health and safety issue of the defecator.”

“We are investigating a person of interest possibly involved in these incidents,” the department said in a release. “We will be not be providing any further information, as the case is still open and active. Any information relative to the case can be directly forwarded to us here at the police department.”